


The Past That Haunts You

by daydreamsonacloudyday



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2014-08-08
Packaged: 2018-02-12 09:29:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2104578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydreamsonacloudyday/pseuds/daydreamsonacloudyday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>NOTE: THIS FIC IS NO LONGER PART OF OLIVIA'S CANON</p><p>Olivia and Anders come across Sebastian while on the run… again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Past That Haunts You

**Author's Note:**

> I've edited this quite a bit since the first time I posted it because I ended up changing my timeline (plus a few headcanons) around. It now takes place shortly after the twins are born (which is not too long before Inquisition), when Liv and Anders are on their way to Ferelden (as they planned in "[Plans for the Future](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3525149)"). This also references the miscarriage Olivia had in "[Tragedy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1931520)."

It was never safe for them anywhere. It had been years since Olivia and Anders had left Kirkwall, and they were still hunted across Thedas—and now their twins would be hunted as well. Their only hope was to get to Ferelden, where the King and Queen would be able to protect them and their children. It was the only way to keep them safe. 

Once Olivia had given birth to the twins, travel had become a bit easier than when she was carrying them inside her and barely able to walk. It was still difficult, given that the twins were so young, but in the end, the hardships would be worth it. Little Karl had drifted off to sleep as Anders held him, wrapped in a bundle secured against his chest, his tiny, chubby face buried against his neck. He glanced over to Olivia, Bethany in a similar state, curled up in her mother's arms. 

Olivia shot him a small smile before looking down at Bethany and pulling the blankets tighter around her as she slept. Anders couldn't help but smile at the affectionate way she looked at their daughter.

Their brief moment was cut short when the sound of distant voices drifted over to them. Olivia tensed and jerked her head towards the source of the sound, the air around them changing as she subconsciously started to draw on her mana.

"Relax, love," he whispered, and she nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself. The voices didn't necessarily mean danger—they could be from an innocent group of travelers, for all they knew. 

The mages crept closer to the source of the sound, eyes darting across the expanse of forest in front of them. They came across a small clearing, sunlight filtering through the trees, the light dancing across a small pond. It would have been a beautiful sight, had the clearing not been occupied by a small band of armored soldiers.

"Anders, those are Starkhaven men," Olivia breathed, her magic surging again out of fear.

Before Anders could answer her, a familiar voice rang out over the clearing, that unmistakable Starkhaven brogue shouting out orders to the soldiers. Olivia lost it, her face twisting into a furious snarl, lightning crackling over her free hand, her other tightening its grip on Bethany.  

Anders was flooded with anger as well, his own arm protectively curling around Karl as Justice clawed for control over his body.

"I'm going to _kill_ him," Olivia growled, eyes glued to the target of her rage. "I'm going to drive the end of my staff right through his heart."

Bethany stirred in her arms as she started to wake up. Olivia's face softened as she soothed their daughter back to sleep, preventing her from crying and giving away their location. As much as Anders and Justice wanted revenge, the twins were more important. They needed to be kept safe, no matter what.

"Liv, we can't," Anders muttered, his voice strained as he tried to keep the spirit inside him at bay. "We have to get away from here. If they capture us, they'll take the twins."

"Over my dead body," she replied, rage burning in her eyes. "They will _not_ take them."

"No, they won't," he said. "Take the twins and go. I'll distract them until you're gone and we'll meet up later."

"Absolutely not!" she whispered harshly. "You're not fighting them alone."

"I'm not alone," he breathed. 

"Anders—"

"Please, Liv," he pleaded, his voice desperate. "If something happens to them…" Olivia stared at him, the same fear he felt for the twins mirrored in her eyes. He knew it was the one thing that would stop her from recklessly leaping into battle, and it did.

She sighed in defeat, slowly nodding her head. "Fine, but you make sure you come back to me. I'm not raising these two on my own."

"I will," Anders said with a light chuckle. He gently pulled Karl back from his neck, and the toddler yawned as he woke up, sleepily staring at him.

Spit bubbled from Karl’s mouth as he reached for his father’s face, tiny fingers grasping onto his nose. Anders smiled before pressing a kiss to his son's forehead and handing him off to Olivia, kissing Bethany as well. He placed his hand on Olivia's face, veins of blue light glowing through cracks in his skin as he stroked her cheek.

"Please be careful," she said softly, her eyes boring into his. He nodded before resting his forehead against hers. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He pressed his lips against hers in a quick, but passionate kiss, before pulling away and taking his staff off his back, readying his magic. He took one last look at his family, memorizing their appearance if something should happen to him, and then turned towards the clearing ahead.

"Anders?" Olivia called out, and he stopped, looking over his shoulder. Her eyes met his again, wrath and fury hardening her gaze. "Kill every last one of them."

With a nod, Anders focused back on the task ahead of him, walking right into the soldiers-filled clearing.

"Sebastian!" he shouted, his eyes scanning over the soldiers as they prepared to attack him. Moments later, Sebastian stepped to the front of his men, bow drawn, an arrow nicked and aimed right at him.

"Seize him!" the prince shouted, and his men rushed at Anders, their weapons and armor glinting in the sunlight. Anders let his rage fuel him, and with a battle cry he let Justice take over, the spirit's rage joining his own. Sebastian's arrow found his heart, but he ignored it, releasing a blast of incinerating flames at the incoming soldiers. They didn't stand a chance against him, and one by one they fell, either to his magic or his bare hands.

When they all lay at his feet, he turned his gaze on Sebastian, the other man's eyes wide as he slowly backed away from him. He loosed another arrow, but it did _nothing_. Anders—Justice—ripped the arrows from his chest and advanced on the prince, swinging the spiked end of his staff upwards, bashing the man in the face. Sebastian let out a cry of pain, his free hand covering his torn, bloody flesh, as he stumbled backwards into a tree.

He tore the bow from his hands, and shoved him up against the tree by his throat, watching as Sebastian clawed at his glowing hands, desperate for air. Justice's presence waned slightly as Anders faded in again, and he released Sebastian, the archer collapsing to the ground, gasping for air.

"You deserve a worse fate than death for what you've done," Anders growled, unsheathing the small dagger he kept on his belt. He pulled Sebastian upwards, holding the blade to his neck as he shoved him back against the tree.

"For what _I_ have done?" he asked incredulously. "You murdered innocents—"

"So have you!" Anders shouted, drawing blood as he pressed the dagger harder against Sebastian's neck. The prince gasped, his eyes widening at the accusation.

"Olivia… she… didn't make it?" Sebastian whispered. At his words, Anders flashed back to the moment he spoke of, Sebastian's arrow embedded in Olivia's shoulder, a Templar's blade through her abdomen. All his grief from that day came bubbling up to the surface, and he could practically _hear_ Olivia's despaired wail when he told her she had lost their baby.

Justice rumbled within him, still just beneath the surface, and it snapped him back to the present.

"Olivia made it," Anders forced out, his voice strained with emotion as he fought back tears. "But she… she was _pregnant_ … and I couldn't save the baby."

Sebastian's eyes widened again, his mouth hanging open as he blankly stared back at Anders. "I… I didn't know… I tried—"

"You _wouldn't_ know," Anders snarled. "You were too busy trying to kill us to listen to her." Justice’s presence increased, the spirit taking full control over their shared body. " _Never again will you harm an innocent_ ," he boomed, placing a glowing hand on Sebastian's chest over his heart. Anders' grief was his grief, overwhelming him, and he felt the helplessness and heartbreak of it as if it were his own--and in a way it was. Justice was fully prepared to push his hand forward and rip the other man's heart from his chest, but a voice stopped him.

“Justice!”  


The urgency in Olivia’s voice alerted him to the fact that something was wrong. Turning towards the source of the sound, he found her standing at the edge of the clearing with the twins bundled up against her chest. Olivia gazed at Sebastian with hatred and anger, and he could feel the subtle shift in the air of her magic as she tried to prevent herself from losing control.

"What is wrong?" he asked, and she almost jumped, tearing her eyes from Sebastian and focusing them on him, worry crossing her face.

"We need to go, there's more men coming," she explained, her gaze flicking back to Sebastian. If she was putting her vengeance on hold, the situation must have been dire.

Justice nodded before partially fading away, and Anders turned his attention back to Sebastian, the other man's eyes trained on Olivia and the twins, surprise lighting the un-bloodied part of his face.

"You have…" he started, at a loss for words.

"You won't take them away, too," Anders barked, Justice still just beneath the surface. He pulled the dagger away from the prince's neck and roughly turned him around, pressing him into the tree as he twisted and strained his arm against his back. "If you ever come after my family again, I _will_ kill you," Anders whispered in his ear before twisting his arm past it's breaking point. 

Sebastian screamed as his shoulder popped, and Anders left him there, his arm dangling lifelessly at his side as Anders returned to his family. Olivia handed him Bethany and he secured her tightly agains his chest, holding her close.

Lightning crackled over Olivia’s free hand as she glared at Sebastian, physically restraining herself from killing the man.

"We need to move, love," Anders said softly, and she swallowed hard, nodding as she turned her attention to him.

"Let's go."


End file.
